Cattle-guard.



PATENTED NOV, 1, 1904.

F. BARTLETT.

CATTLE ,GUARD. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 20, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

INVENTOR.

A TTORNE K UNITED STATES Patented November 1, 1904.

PATENT OEEicE.

WASHINGTON.

ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF PENINGTON, OF SEATTLE,

CATTLE-GUARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 774,130, dated November 1, 1904. Application fil d August 20, 1903. Serial No. 170,229. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK BARTLETT, a citi Zen of the United States, residing in Seattle, county of King, and State of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cattle-Guards, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to devices placed across a railroad-track and adapted to prevent cattle, stock, &c., from passing over it; and the objects of my invention are, first, to provide a cattle-guard adapted to be used on third-rail electric systems as well as on steam-railroads; second, to reduce the cost of manufacture and of installation, and, third, to increase the efficiency of such devices. I attain these objects by the devices illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of one of my cattle-guards in place. Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken parallel with the rails. Fig. 3 is a similar view of a variation of my device, and Fig. 4 is a plan of a portion of my device.

Similar letters of reference refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

There are several objections to the cattleguards at present in use-as, for instance, they are made of metal and are connected together in rows, and therefore easily become charged with the electricity from the third rail, they are expensive to manufacture, and they do not effectively keep cattle off the track.

My cattle-guard consists of the ordinary ties A, placed with the rails on the narrow edge. The cross-section of these ties 1 prefer to have about seven inches by eightinch es, and I space them about fifteen inches apart, center to center, leaving eight inches clear between them. These ties are beveled or cut, as at B, along one upper edge, except for that part on which the rails are fastened. The incline of this bevel I prefer to make such that the distance cut on the vertical side is about two and one-half inches and on the horizontal side about three and three-fourths inches. On this beveled side B are secured, by means of spikes, bolts, or nails, the inclined wooden pieces O, shaped as shown in Fig. 2, with a flat surface D slightly above the top of the rail and a vertical surface E at the lower end considerably below the base of the rail. The point of the surface D is cut off on a vertical line, as shown. The upper edge projects about three and one-fourth inches beyond the tie A and the lower edge projects about two and three-fourths inches, so that there is a horizontal distance between the upper edge of one piece C and the lower edge of the next piece O of about two inches. The pieces O are narrow, being about seven inches across and are spaced about one and one-half inches apart along the beveled side B.

I find that six ties arranged as above indicated and with the pieces O inclined downward in the direction that the cattle, stock, &c., are supposed to walk form a substantial barrier which they cannot pass over. They do not attempt to step on the narrow flat surface D, but place the hoof down near the bottom of the inclined piece C and find that it cannot be withdrawn, because it is clamped between the upper end of the. next piece O and the inclined piece that they are standing on and the only way the hoof can be withdrawn is for the animal to back. The fact that the pieces O are in short sections also deters them from attempting to cross the cattleguard.

In Fig. 3 is illustrated one of the variations of my invention. In this case the pieces F are made of metal and follow substantially the same course as the lower side of the aboveclescribed piece C, but are secured to the tie by bending their upper and lower ends to the side of the tie and securing them in position thereon by spikes or nails. The ties are spaced about as above indicated.

I do not wish to limit myself in any manner by the dimensions given in the above description, but merely give these figures as an example of what is found by experience to be suitable and efficient.

What I claim, and ters Patent, is

1. A cattleguard comprising a series of plates secured to the upper parts of a series of railroad-ties at an oblique angle thereto,

desire to secure by Letthe upper free end of each plate projecting beyond the rear side of the tie to which it is secured, and the lower end of each plate projecting beyond the adjacent side of the tie, but not extending to the vertical line of the upper end of the plate immediately in front of it and secured to the adjacent tie.

2. A cattle-guard comprising a series of flat plates secured to the top of a series of railroad-ties at an oblique angle, the entire upper surface of each plate lying in the same plane, the upper free end of each plate projecting beyond the rear side of the tie to which it is secured, and the lower end of each plate projecting beyond the front side of the tie, but not extending to the vertical line of the rear upper end of the slanting plate immediately preceding it.

3. A cattle-guard, comprising a series of adjacent parallel ties each chamfered or beveled at an angle on one upper edge, a series of parallel plates secured to the beveled edges of the ties, the upper and lower edges of the plates projecting respectively beyond the front and rear sides of the tie to which they are'attached, substantially as described.

4. A cattle-guard comprising a series of plates secured to the tops of a series of railroad-ties, the upper surface of each tie being chamfered at an angle, the front and rear edges of the plates projecting beyond the front and rear faces of the ties.

5. A cattleguard comprising a series of parallel ties placed a suitable distance apart, a series of plates secured to the upper part of each tie and having their upper portions flat surfaced, said plates lying transversely of the ties and at an angle thereto, the front upper edge, and rear lower edge of each plate respectively projecting beyond the front and rear faces of the tie to which it is secured, substantially as described.

6. A cattleguard comprising a series of railroad-ties placed a suitable distance apart,

a series of flat plates secured to the tops of said ties at an angle, the front and rear edges of each plate projecting beyond the front and rear faces of each tie to but leaving a vertical clearance between the front and rear edges of plates on adjacent ties, substantially as described.

7. In a cattle-guard, the combination of a series of cross-ties, inclined pieces secured to said ties each piece forming a single inclined surface from a point in front of and above said tie to a point in rear of and below the upper surface of said tie the horizontal component of the length of said pieces being less than the distance between the centers of said ties whereby a horizontal space is left between the lower end of one piece and the upper end of the piece on the next succeeding tie.

8. In a cattle-guard, the combination of a series of ties having their upper rear edges beveled, inclined pieces supported by said beveled edges and arranged side by side with spaces between on said ties each piece forming a single inclined surface extending from a point in front of and above said tie to a point in rear of and below the upper surface of said tie the horizontal component of the length of said pieces being less than the distance between the centers of said ties whereby a horizontal space is left between the lower end of one piece and the upper end of the piece on the next succeeding tie.

9. In a cattle-guard, the combination of a series of ties having their upper rear edges beveled, inclined pieces supported by said beveled edges and arranged side by side with spaces between along said tie each piece forming a single inclined surface extending from a point in front of and above said tie to a point in rear of and below the upper surface of said tie said upper and lower ends extending almost midway between the consecutive ties whereby a horizontal space is left between the lower end of one piece and the upper end of the next succeeding piece the lower ends being above the surface of the ground.

10. A cattle-guard consisting of a series of cross-ties, each tie being beveled along one edge and having inclined pieces forming single inclined surfaces secured to said beveled edge, said inclined pieces having also a horizontal surface at about the level of the rail, and having their lower ends vertical.

in testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANK BARTLETT.

Witnesses:

ELLIS LEWIS GARRnTsoN, FREDERIO J. SHAW. 

